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The Palace of Judgement
The Palace of Judgement is the divine realm of Yen-Wang-Yeh, the judge of the dead in the Celestial Bureaucracy. It exists on the Outlands. The Palace is the size of a small city, and inhabited by thousands of souls - not just the dead waiting to go to their eternal rest, but the petitioners, functionaries, clerks, and guardians of those souls, and immortal creatures responsible for them. The palace is constantly in a bustle, because the flow of the dead never stops. It is a massive compound with promenades, courtyards, gardens, granaries, libraries, towers, kitchens, stables, residences, storehouses, and workshops. The construction is of red brick, wood, and stone, with roofs of half-moon glazed tiles. The Palace is designed with an eye toward artistry and aesthetics, with even the smallest and meanest of buildings containing architectural flourishes. Just outside the Palace is a small suburb of sorts for folks who need to visit or work at the Palace for one reason or another, but cannot stay there. It's called the Place of Waiting, and it has a few inns, restaurants, and shops for visitors. Judgement A steady stream of souls appears on the Outlands just beyond the gate to the Palace. The arrivals, shepherded by Yen-Wang-Yeh's servants, are herded through the Iron Gate and into one of the Thousand Greeting Halls. There, a low-ranked proxy passes judgement on the petitioner, and then get passed on to a clerk, who records the judgement in scrolls stored in the infinite library here. A placard gets hung around the spirit's neck that lists their vices and virtues and their destination hall, and then they get put in a waiting hall that connects to their destination plane. For one week in August, when Yen-Wang-Yeh is reporting to his superior, the Palace is run by his assistants and underlings. This is a dangerous time of year to die - often, these underlings are less proficient than the god, and souls go missing, escape, or otherwise leak outo into the world. Services Those who aren't being judged by Yen-Wang-Yeh may travel here to gain knowledge from the recently-dead, or to use one of the hundreds of gates to other planes that network here. It's also a relatively safe place on the planes - the strict and orderly command of Yen-Wang-Yeh enforces a peace, even between the demons and celestials that may roam the halls. Visiting the realm gets you assigned a go-zu oni guide (or a men-shen guide for important guests) that also ensures you don't deviate from your path. Residents The thousands of souls that pass through the Palace don't dwell here for more than a few days, typically (though exceptional cases can take months or years to assign properly). However, the various clerks, guides, judges, and other palace functionaries live and work here full time. The place is full of go-zu oni, men-shen, foo creatures, spirit centipedes, pan lung, shen lung, t'ien lung, and stone spirits. There's a few fiends, aasimon, einheriar, and even modrons here as well, as representatives from the destination planes. General Pien General Pien is the most important creature aside from Yen-Wang-Yeh himself. The men-shen's title is Chamberlain of the Interior Palace, and he keeps the Palace humming along. Most aren't likely to get a visit with him unless something is truly dire. General Pien is Neutral. Pao A proxy of Yen-Wang-Yeh, Pao's title is Secretary of the Third Rank. He taks the form of a human, and is a dedicated cleric of Yen-Wang-Yeh as well as a member of the Believers of the Source - he believes that by hard work and dedication, he can ascend the bureaucratic ranks in time. He's loyal and dilligent as a result. Pao is Neutral. Faithful Servant Li A minor clerk in the Palace, he has been charged with recovering Golden Morning Radience, and not to return until he does. He's currently tracked her to Sigil, and is asking about her whereabouts. Faithful Servant Li is Neutral Golden Morning Radience This petitioner is the spirit of a wizard who worshiped the Bureaucracy. After landing in the Palace of Judgement during one of Yen-Wang-Yeh's leaves of absence, she grew bored and frustrated waiting to be assigned her fate, and so she simply left. Rumor has it that she has wound up in Sigil somewhere, and members of many factions are looking to recruit her. Golden Morning Radience is Neutral Good. Hooks Misplaced Spirit Faithful Servant Li is willing to hire the party to find Golden Morning Radience. She was recently sighted in the Hive, and reportedly has no intention of going back. The Bleak Cabal seems to be keeping her for now, but the Mercykillers and the Dustmen would like to find her - the former to punish her for escaping justice, the latter to recruit her as one of the Dead. Sources Manual of the Planes (1e) Planescape Campaign Setting (2e) On Hallowed Ground (2e) Category:Location Category:The Outlands Category:Realm Category:Celestial Bureaucracy